Over 25 years, I’ve written, submitted and won thousands of recruitment bids, tenders, proposals and pitches. At that time, there is no single tip for winning or losing. But there are common themes that, if followed or not, increase the chances of winning and losing.
From reviewing clients bids, my own, and invaluable feedback from clients, here are a few tips and themes that will increase the chances of winning that next recruitment bid if followed.
1. Answer the question asked. Not the question you wished was asked.
I know this isn’t easy, but the client has asked the question for a reason. Therefore, be diligent, highlight the important aspects of the question, set out headers so they can see each section has been addressed and always refer back to the question during your answer.
2. If you are in any doubt as to what the question means, then seek clarification.
Ambiguity is common in recruitment bids as there can be multiple people inputting to the final set of questions. So, before you answer, seek clarification from the client what their intent is for a particular question. You’ll be surprised how often the response from the client was nothing like you expected and will help you fashion a better response.
3. Read everything at least three times.
I put this in a previous blog, and it’s always true. Read, read and then read some more. Get to know what the client wants and how you can meet and exceed the specification. But, as they say, the devil is in the detail.
4. Being the incumbent can be dangerous.
You’ve been supplying staff for ten years. Meet the client regularly, take them biscuits at Christmas and know all their birthdays. So what? This means nothing when you write your responses if you don’t follow numbers 1 to 3 above.
Don’t fall into the trap because you have ten years of history that you don’t need to give the bid full focus. I’ve seen written responses as if they were writing a letter to a mate (I know no one writes letters anymore). And provides no detail as they assume the client already knows how good they are, filling in the blanks themselves.
You have to assume the client knows nothing about you, won’t fill in the gaps and wants a professional tailored response. I always recommend you go that little bit further to demonstrate how much better you are as subconsciously the client know what you can do. But do they? Do they know about your new recruitment services, other client feedback, social value initiatives, new video interviewing that reduces time to hire by half? Tell them how good you are, as ten years is a long time to develop new solutions.
5. The last common theme is bidders not following the clients’ instructions.
Yet, your bid is excellent, priced accordingly, meets and exceeds all the specification, has been reviewed on time, and you know you could not have done anything better or different.
But the client wanted three hard copies, a CD with the bid and a USB stick with just the pricing. You decided no one uses CDs anymore, so didn’t send.
The first evaluation is a compliance check. The client sees there is no CD and immediately reject the best bid you have ever submitted. Harsh, but it happens all too often. Submission instructions, like all instructions, should be followed exactly. No matter what. Even as I once had when the Environment Agency wanted eight hard copies of the bid.